The Art of Moroccan cuisine Moroccan cuisine is considered one of the most important cuisines in the
world. One of the reasons for its importance is its remarkable
diversity of influences. In Moroccan dishes, one can trace the country’s
long history of colonizers and immigrants who have left their mark in
more than one way. The cuisine of the first inhabitants, the Berbers,
still exists today in the staple dishes like tagine and couscous. The
Arab invasion brought new spices, nuts and dried fruits, and the sweet
and sour combinations that we see in dishes like tagine with dates and
lamb. The Moors introduced olives, olive juice and citrus while the
Jewish-Moors left behind their sophisticated preserving techniques that
we see in the frequent use of preserved lemons, pickles, etc. The
Ottoman Empire introduced barbeque (kebabs) to Moroccan cuisine. The
French colony, although short-lived compared to reign of some of these
other empires, left behind a culture of cafes, pastries, and even wine.
Over time, cooks in the kitchens of the four royal cities (Fez,
Marrakesh, Meknes, and Rabat) have developed and perfected the dishes
that blend each of these distinct tastes. Every Moroccan dish has its
place in society and varies with the market, the season, and the region.
Don’t leave Morocco without trying
B’ssara
At
a few pennies a bowl, this rich soup of dried broad beans is
traditionally served for breakfast, topped with a swirl of olive oil, a
sprinkling of cumin and bread fresh from the oven.
Tagine
A
tagine is the clay cooking pot with a conical lid that gives its name
to a myriad of dishes. Tagines can be seen bubbling away at every
roadside café, are found in top notch restaurants and in every home, and
are always served with bread.
Try making your own chicken tagine
Fish chermoula
With
its long Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts, Morocco boasts a rich array
of fish dishes. Chermoula is a combination of herbs and spices used as a
marinade before grilling over coals, and as a dipping sauce.
Try making your own chermoula-marinated mackerel
Harira
During
the holy month of Ramadan, the fast is broken at sunset each day with a
steaming bowl of harira soup. Rich with tomatoes, lentils, chickpeas
and lamb, it is finished off with a squeeze of lemon juice and some
chopped coriander, and served with a sticky sweet pretzel called chebakkiya.
Try making your own harira chicken soup
Kefta tagine
Beef
or lamb mince with garlic, fresh coriander and parsley, cinnamon and
ground coriander is rolled into balls and cooked in a tomato and onion
sauce. Just before the dish is ready, eggs are cracked into depressions
in the sauce and soon cook to perfection.
Couscous
‘Seksu’
or couscous is a fine wheat pasta traditionally rolled by hand. It is
steamed over a stew of meat and vegetables. To serve, the meat is
covered by a pyramid of couscous, the vegetables are pressed into the
sides and the sauce served separately. It is often garnished with a
sweet raisin preserve, or in the Berber tradition, with a bowl of
buttermilk.
Try cooking with couscous
Makouda
Moroccan
street food is legendary and the best place to sample the wide variety
is Djemaa el-Fna square in Marrakech. Here beside the kebabs, calamari
and grilled sardines, you will find the more unusual sweet cheek meat of
sheep’s heads, snails cooked in a spicy broth that wards off colds, and
skewers of lamb’s liver with caul fat. Makouda are little deep-fried
potato balls, delicious dipped into spicy harissa sauce.
Zaalouk
Moroccan
meals begin with at least seven cooked vegetable salads to scoop up
with bread. They can include green peppers and tomatoes, sweet carrots
or courgette purée, and a dish of local olives alongside. Zaalouk is a
smoked aubergine dip, seasoned with garlic, paprika, cumin and a little
chilli powder.
B’stilla
This
very special pie represents the pinnacle of exquisite Fassi (from Fez)
cuisine. Layers of a paper-thin pastry coddle a blend of pigeon meat,
almonds and eggs spiced with saffron, cinnamon and fresh coriander, the
whole dusted with icing sugar and cinnamon.
Try one of our similar pastilla recipes
Mint tea
Known
as ‘Moroccan whisky’, mint tea is the drink of choice. It is usually
heavily sweetened with sugar chipped off a sugar cone. Gunpowder tea is
steeped with a few sprigs of spearmint stuffed into the teapot. It is
poured into a tea glass from a height to create a froth called the
crown.
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